I read a lot of words (and I write quite a few too). I try to take care to understand what the writer intended me to think so I read the words, think about them, and put together in my head what the passages mean. I’m also long-practiced in reading words from government departments and agencies where the words matter and have usually been chosen carefully. I am sometimes surprised when people tell me that, say, Defra has said something when I don’t think they said anything remotely like that and when I return to the announcement or policy paper I find that I am right and that someone else has clearly not really thought about what the words mean.
Here, in blue, are the words of a Defra announcement of a Land Use Framework – click here – with my annotations in red. The annotations are what went through my head as I read.
England has around 130,000 square kilometres of land, and it faces more demands than ever before. We need to build more homes, generate clean energy and maintain food production, all while restoring nature.
Land is the foundation of our economy [is it?], but it is also finite. Without a strategic approach, we risk these competing demands pulling in different directions, when the evidence shows we have enough land to deliver them all.
That’s why today the Government has published England’s first ever Land Use Framework, which shows how through smarter planning and the right data and tools communities, farmers, landowners and developers can make informed decisions about land use.
In this post, we’ll set out everything you need to know [I’ll be the judge of that, and having read this blog post, you haven’t!] about the framework.
What is the Land Use Framework?
The Land Use Framework provides the blueprint [OK, I’ll be expecting something that is a plan or template] for how land in England can be used effectively [and conflicts between competing effective uses resolved?].
It shows clearly [I’ll be the judge of that] that when we play to the strengths of our varied landscapes [name a ‘strength’ of landscape to which we can play in this way, please] we can build the homes and infrastructure we need, while also ensuring we have the space required to produce food and restore nature.
As part of this, we’re committing to ‘making land digital’, increasing accessibility and transparency around land use by sharing our environmental datasets and mapping systems. This means giving communities and developers everyone access to world-class [says who? just us?] data to use alongside their local knowledge.
Why is land use such a pressing [‘pressing’ means it’s urgent and needs fixing now – I think that’s true] issue?
For too long decisions about where to build homes, generate energy and focus nature recovery have been made in isolation, without a strategic overview. [That isn’t really why land use is a ‘pressing’ issue – it’s pressing because we are a crowded nation where every bit of land is used for something and yet could be used for something else, so there is conflict over what goes where. If we had ten times as much land and the same population it wouldn’t be so pressing. Also, government seems to want to change the planning system and ‘build, build, build’ and is just beginning to realise that that is quite tricky].
In 2025 the government started a national conversation on land use. Feedback highlighted fragmented decision-making and a lack of information as significant barriers to strategic planning decisions.
The framework we’re publishing today provides a more consistent spatial vision for England by aligning national and local plans. It commits to providing the data and tools so decisions on housing and energy are faster, clearer and more predictable, which will unlock economic growth.
What does the Land Use Framework mean for nature and the environment?
England is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world [every country is ‘one of’ the most nature-depleted countries in the world just as I am ‘one of’ the fattest (and simultaneously the thinnest) and nicest (and simultaneously nastiest) people on Earth. This is a cliché much loved by people who don’t know quite what it means, where the data come from or where in the rank of nature depletion the UK sits. When used, it almost always means that the user hasn’t a clue what they mean.] . The Land Use Framework will ensure we have sufficient land to deliver key [why ‘key’ and not ‘legally binding’ or ‘statutory’ or some thing else? Which ones aren’t ‘key’ I wonder] nature environment and climate targets.
The framework will help [ie it won’t itself identify] identify where habitat restoration is most needed [or most compatible with other competing demands?] and ensure [really? how?] space for nature is integrated into urban, as well as rural, landscapes. It sets a clear [I’ll be the judge of that] pathway to nature recovery, supporting the government’s 30by30 legally binding commitment. The Framework also sets out how incentives will be optimised [optimise has a technical meaning; it doesn’t just mean ‘made OK’ or ‘made very OK’ because food production and nature production are largely competing land uses – we can get a little bit of food from nature reserves and we can get a little bit of nature from intensive arable production but we can’t very often get lots of both on the same bit of land] to deliver for nature and resilient food production.
For instance, England’s National Parks and National Landscapes include some of our most iconic and inspiring places [platitude], underpinning [actually, sometimes ‘undermining’. Government may want us to think that in future they will do what these words claim they do already] our health, economy and climate. Without the restoration [I like the use of ‘restoration’ because it suggests that all is not well, but I wonder to what they are going to be restored] of these protected landscapes, we will not achieve our international commitment to protect 30% of our land for nature by 2030, or our Environment Act targets. [The OEP says there is precious little chance of meeting them anyway because governments have been slow to act and it is already 2026].
What does the Land Use Framework mean for farming?
The Land Use Framework makes a clear, long-term commitment to maintain the amount of food we produce. It will do this by increasing farm productivity and developing sector plans. These plans will underpin our future food security and drive economic growth, ensuring the most productive agricultural land is safeguarded for food production. [This sounds interesting – and difficult]
Farmers will benefit from data and tools the Government are committing to develop to help them future-proof their businesses in the face of extreme weather and market shocks. The framework will give more rights and greater certainty to tenant farmers. It also sets our reforms to simplify payment systems and digitise land data submissions to make it easier for farmers to work with Government on land use.
What does the Land Use Framework mean for housing and planning?
The framework will provide the data to help us accelerate delivery of 1.5 million new homes whilst protecting our best farmland and restoring nature [I doubt that it is lack of data really holding things back, it is lack of an agreed way to proceed. One can make lots of decisions with no data and make awful decisions with perfect data. The data don’t determine the outcome]. By opening up access to high-quality data, planners, developers and local authorities will be able to reduce uncertainty, lower development costs and mobilise investment in nature-based solutions to help protect homes, businesses and infrastructure from the impacts of climate change. [There’s a lot about data through this essay – it’s how data are used that is important, and the need for data is sometimes overrated]
This will also help [will it? Do other government departments ever take much notice of Defra?] align spatial plans across government, so that decisions about housing, energy infrastructure and nature recovery are considered together, rather than in isolation.
Vision for the future
The framework sets out an ambitious long-term vision for England’s landscapes. This includes that, by 2030, we envision at least 95% of electricity generated from clean power, 350,000 football pitches worth of new wildlife-rich habitat created, and an increased urban tree canopy. [Hmm – OK]
By 2050, the Government’s vision is for multifunctional landscapes to be the norm where food production, nature recovery, clean energy and thriving communities are planned together, not in competition. Woodland cover will increase to 16.5%, rivers will run cleaner and fewer homes will be built in flood-risk areas. Through nature’s recovery, our National Parks and National Landscapes will protect communities from flooding, fight climate change, boost the nation’s health, and foster a thriving green economy. [Hmmm – OK. Long way away of course, so easy for this government to promise something that maybe Reform or a series of coalition governments will have to decide whether or not to deliver]
This is a future where England’s land works harder and smarter for everyone. [In reality, just guessing as I have yet to read the Framework itself, but however good it may be, it will give some of what different interest groups want (but not all) and everyone is always more pissed off by what they aren’t given than grateful for what they are given]
What happens next
This is just the beginning of a more joined-up approach to how we use England’s land.
Over the next year, we will establish a dedicated Land Use Unit to drive the delivery of this framework. This will align national and local plans and ensure England’s landscapes deliver for development, food production and nature recovery together.
We will also continue to refine our analysis and publish updates on a dedicated Land Use Framework GOV.UK page.
Now I will read the Land Use Framework – click here – and decide what I think about it. This has been a limbering up exercise. I’ll talk about this in my monthly newsblast which goes to your inbox tomorrow, Saturday, morning if you are one of the thousands of free subscribers.
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